Autonomous vehicle interface system
First Claim
1. An autonomous vehicle comprising:
- a plurality of sensors configured to detect conditions in an environment of the autonomous vehicle and generate low-level sensor data indicative of the detected conditions;
an autonomous vehicle interface system comprising;
system nodes of the autonomous vehicle that are each a distributed node of the autonomous vehicle interface system, each of the system nodes having processing hardware and memory to independently process the low-level sensor data generated by one or more of the sensors or process high-level system data, the low-level sensor data abstracted to generate the high-level system data as a sensor data type of the respective one or more sensors, the abstracted sensor data type being invariant to specific sensor implementations; and
at least one on-vehicle real-time bus that connects the system nodes of the autonomous vehicle for data communications of the low-level sensor data and the high-level system data, each of the system nodes configured to publish the low-level sensor data or the high-level system data from a respective system node on the real-time bus, the published low-level sensor data and the high-level system data being exposed to each of the system nodes over the on-vehicle real-time bus for processing and vehicle control of the autonomous vehicle without an acting central managing computer managing the published low-level sensor data and the high-level system data that is exposed to the system nodes; and
one or more autonomous vehicle control systems configured to control operations of the autonomous vehicle within the environment based on the low-level sensor data and the high-level system data published on the real-time bus.
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Abstract
In embodiments of an autonomous vehicle interface system, system nodes are each implemented as a distributed node for independent data processing of low-level sensor data and/or high-level system data. The high-level system data is abstracted from the low-level sensor data, providing invariance to system configuration in higher-level processing algorithms. The autonomous vehicle interface system includes at least one real-time bus for data communications of the low-level sensor data and the high-level system data between the system nodes. The system also includes an application programming interface (API) configured for access by the system nodes to the low-level sensor data and the high-level system data that is published on the real-time bus and accessible via the API.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. An autonomous vehicle comprising:
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a plurality of sensors configured to detect conditions in an environment of the autonomous vehicle and generate low-level sensor data indicative of the detected conditions; an autonomous vehicle interface system comprising; system nodes of the autonomous vehicle that are each a distributed node of the autonomous vehicle interface system, each of the system nodes having processing hardware and memory to independently process the low-level sensor data generated by one or more of the sensors or process high-level system data, the low-level sensor data abstracted to generate the high-level system data as a sensor data type of the respective one or more sensors, the abstracted sensor data type being invariant to specific sensor implementations; and at least one on-vehicle real-time bus that connects the system nodes of the autonomous vehicle for data communications of the low-level sensor data and the high-level system data, each of the system nodes configured to publish the low-level sensor data or the high-level system data from a respective system node on the real-time bus, the published low-level sensor data and the high-level system data being exposed to each of the system nodes over the on-vehicle real-time bus for processing and vehicle control of the autonomous vehicle without an acting central managing computer managing the published low-level sensor data and the high-level system data that is exposed to the system nodes; and one or more autonomous vehicle control systems configured to control operations of the autonomous vehicle within the environment based on the low-level sensor data and the high-level system data published on the real-time bus. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method implemented by an autonomous vehicle, the method comprising:
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detecting conditions in an environment of the autonomous vehicle by a plurality of sensors of the autonomous vehicle; generating low-level sensor data by the plurality of sensors that is indicative of the detected conditions; abstracting the low-level sensor data to generate high-level system data, the low-level sensor data being abstracted to generate the high-level system data as a sensor data type by system nodes that are each a distributed node of an autonomous vehicle interface system of the autonomous vehicle, the abstracted sensor data type being invariant to specific sensor implementations; publishing the low-level sensor data and the high-level system data to an on-vehicle real time bus that connects the system nodes of the autonomous vehicle for data communications, the low-level sensor data and the high-level system data that is published by a respective system node over the on-vehicle real-time bus being exposed to the other system nodes for processing and vehicle control of the autonomous vehicle without an acting central managing computer managing the published low-level sensor data and the high-level system data that is exposed; and controlling operations of the autonomous vehicle within the environment based on the low-level sensor data and the high-level system data published to the on-vehicle real-time bus. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An autonomous vehicle interface system node that is onboard an autonomous vehicle having a plurality of sensors to detect conditions in an environment surrounding the autonomous vehicle, the autonomous vehicle interface system node comprising:
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a memory and a processing system to implement a node control module to; receive low-level sensor data from one or more of the sensors; abstract the low-level sensor data to generate high-level system data, the low-level sensor data from a sensor being abstracted to generate the high-level system data as a sensor data type, the abstracted sensor data type being invariant to specific sensor implementations; and publish the low-level sensor data and the high-level system data over an on-vehicle real time bus of the autonomous vehicle by the system node, the on-vehicle real-time bus configured to expose data communications published by the system node to additional, distributed system nodes of the autonomous vehicle interface system without an acting central managing computer managing the published low-level sensor data and the high-level system data that is exposed, the operations of the autonomous vehicle controlled within the environment based, in part, on the low-level sensor data and the high-level system data published to the on-vehicle real-time bus. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification